Automatic fire extinguisher



Jan. 22, 1935. D. PECCERILLO El AL ,9

AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed April 18, 1934 ja A Zia ,2,

Patented Jan. 22, 1935 ,AUTOMATIC FIREEXTINGUISHER Dominick Peccerillo and Paul P. Heinz, New v Haven, Conn.

Application April 18, 1934, Serial No. 721,144

' Claims. (01. 16938) This invention relates to automatic'fire extinguishers, and particularly to that class which are connected with a water-supply pipe and including a plug held in position by fusible 'metal;

.-.5 so that when a predeterrnined heat is attained,

the couplingwill melt and open the water-pipe for the escape of water, which is spread by a header.

It not unfrequently happens that, owing to unexpected high temperatures in a room, or to the giving away of the fusible binder, the valve is opened when there is no fire. In order to stop the flow of water, it has been necessary to cut off the supply to the building until a new closure has been installed. This obviously takes some time and in the meanwhile, the water is escap- The object of this invention is to provide a temporary closure which may be readily brought into position to shut off the water at the valve, and the invention consists in the construction as hereinafter described and particularly recited in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front view of an automatic fire extinguisher constructed in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly broken away, of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side view showing the temporary plug in position;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a modified form of mounting the temporary valve-plug;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a modified form of plug; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating another method of connecting the fusible plug with fixtures already installed.

In carrying out our invention, we employ a head comprising a plug 10 adapted to be connected with a water-supply pipe, the plug being formed at its upper end with a valve-seat 11' and with a yoke 12 carrying a distributor 13 at its upper end. The top of the yoke is formed with a depending lug 14. A valve 15 is located in the seat 11 and is provided with a bell-crankstem 16, one arm 17 of which is connected by a fusible-plate 18 with an arm 19 of a second bell-crank-stem 20, which is seated against the lug 14 so as to hold the valve 15 in position to prevent the escape of water.

Under the effect of predetermined heat, the fusible-plate 18 will melt, releasing the bellcrank-stems and allowing the force of the water to lift the valve 15 from its seat and allow a stream of water to escape. This stream,- striking the'distributor 13, will be spread over a large area, in the manner of Well-known automatic fire extinguishers. After the water is released, there is no way of stopping it except by shutting off the water, usually in the basement of the building; meanwhile, the water is escaping.

To provide a temporary closure, We employ a temporary or supplemental valve-plug 21 mounted upon a loop 22, the ends 23 of which are mounted on the sides 24 of the yoke 12, on opposite sides of the plug 10. Instead of mounting the ends of the loop upon the yoke, the ends may be turned into holes 35 formed in the sides of the plug 10, for which purpose the yoke 12 may be inclined, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, so as to give clearance for the loop.

This temporary valve-plug is also provided with a beveled shoulder 25 and with a fingerpiece 26, by which the temporary valve-plug may be raised and swung over the valve-seat and the inclined surface 25 engaged with the lug 14, so as.to crowd the temporary valve-plug into the seat 11 and shut-off the flow of water. In the closing movement, the temporary valve-plug is guided to its seat by an inclined lip 27 formed integral with the plug 10.

For the purpose of indicating that the device is temporarily closed, a small outlet-port 28 will be formed in the plug, so that a small jet of water will escape, thereby attracting attention and giving notice that a new fusible closure should be installed.

To adapt our invention to sprinklers already installed, the ends of the yoke 22 may be engaged on opposite sides of a two-part collar 29, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, this collar being adapted to be clamped to a sprinklerhead already installed, and also being provided with a cam-guide 30 like the guide 27 above referred to.

In the construction above described, when the temporary valve-plug is in position, the device is no longer automatic, but to make it automatic, the valve-plug may be formed in two parts, the plug-end 31 being separate from the handleportion 32, but connected thereto by a strip of metal 33, preferably fusible at a relatively-high temperature, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, so that in case of another fire, before the temporary plug has been replaced, the heat will melt the strip 33 separating the plug-end 31 from the handle 32 and, owing to the inclined adjacent faces of the two parts, the force of the water moving the plug-end 31 will tip the handle-portion 32 so as to allow the free escape of water to impinge against the distributor 13.

We thus provide means for shutting off Water at the sprinkler, which means may be applied without shutting off the supply of water.

We claim:

1. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination with a loop, pivotally connected with the distributor of a supplemental valveplug carried by said loop and adapted to be turned and held in engagement with the valveseat, and means for holding the supplemental valve in its closed position. i

2. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination with a supplemental valve-plug, pivotally connected with the distributor and adapted to be turned and held in engagement with the valve-seat, means for holding the supplemental valve in its closed position, and an outlet-port through the said supplemental plug. V 3. An automatic fire extinguisher comprising a valve-seat, a yoke and a distributor, the yoke formed at its upper end with a depending lug, means .for closing the valve, and a supplemental valve-plug pivotally mounted on said yoke and adapted to be turned into line with said seat,

said supplemental plug provided with an inclined surface adapted to engage with said lug, whereby the supplemental plug is firmly held in its seat.

4. An automatic fire extinguisher comprising a valve-seat, a yoke and a distributor, the yoke formed at its upper end with a depending lug, means for closing the valve, a supplemental valve-plug pivotally mounted on said yoke and adapted to be turned into line with said seat, said supplemental plug provided with an inclined surface adapted to engage with said lug, whereby the supplemental plug is firmly held in its seat, and an inclined lip for guiding the supplemental plug to its seat.

5. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination with a loop pivotally connected with the distributor, of a supplemental valve-plug carried by said loop and adapted to be turned into engagement with the valve-seat, the said supplemental valve-plug being formed in two parts fusibly connected together, and means for holding the supplemental valve-plug in its closed position.

DOMINICK PECCERILLO. PAUL P. HEINZ. 

